Increasing the subscriber capacity of a cell site in a wireless and/or cellular radiotelephone system has traditionally involved a splitting of the cell site into a new pattern of a greater number of smaller cells to replace the previously existing cell pattern. An alternative arrangement to avoid the necessity for new cell sites has been to create a plurality of microcell sites within the existing "macrocell" site. The microcell sites each comprise radio transceiver stations all connected to the existing macrocell site. They are distributed throughout the serving area of the existing macrocell and are used to improve overall traffic capacity. These remote transceiver stations or microcells function as "repeaters" or "radiators" in interconnecting mobile subscribers (MSs) and the macrocell sites. These microcells handle rf signals sent to and from mobile radiotelephone units which they retransmit for communication with the macrocell stations.
In a cellular radiotelephone service area comprising a macrocell and a plurality of microcells, it is desirable that MSs set up calls in the microcell in preference to the macrocell to improve traffic capacity. The MS radiotelephone normally selects the serving macrocell or microcell for call setup service based on signal strength. Fast moving vehicles with radiotelephones cannot be served by microcells, however, since these vehicles would be outside the microcell coverage area before a call could be set up or handed off.
A method has been proposed for selectively enabling the service of MSs by a microcell by selecting the MSs based on their speed. It involves identifying a microcell coverage area and offsetting microcell signal strength or perceived strength, as detected by an idle MS, for a time sufficient to allow a fast moving MS, desiring service and having entered the microcell serving area, to exit the microcell coverage area before the call is set up thereby forcing the controlling macrocell to handle the call setup. Hence only the MS radiotelephones of pedestrian-held stationary radiotelephones and radiotelephones in relatively slow moving vehicles are served by the microcell. Such a system is discussed in ETSI GSM2, Ronneby, Sep. 17-20, 1991; Tdoc 113/91 entitled "Idle Mode Cell Reselection for Microcells."
There is a substantial offset-coverage overlap between the locations where a MS may be found during the offset interval or duration of the apparent reduced signal strength of the microcell and the microcell coverage area. For example, a slow moving vehicle may enter the microcell coverage area and not be serviced by the microcell if the request for a call setup is initiated during the offset interval even though the MS still has a substantial distance to go within the microcell coverage area. Calls that could be serviced by the microcell are instead serviced by the macrocell because the mobile radiotelephone is programmed to respond to the strongest signal. This proposed call setup arrangement results in a proportion of the call setups, that would be served by the microcell, being lost to the present macrocellular system since a call set up in the macrosystem may not be subsequently handed off to a microcell system in the incident macrocell system. It is desirable to reduce this capacity loss because of the spectrum utilization efficiency of a microcellular system.